This guide speaks true, but it’s sad that it’s needed

I ran across a press release this week from an author rallying conservatives to take over the country by taking office at every level, not just the upper echelons of government.

I’m not for one-party rule at any point, or what then is the point of the idea of democracy? Of course, political parties weren’t part of the original idea for this nation, but everyone seems to forget that point.

Anyway, going deeper into the release, Craig Copland, a retired entrepreneur with expertise in fundraising and managing political campaigns, got into something a little more interesting for me.

His new guide, 2012 Conservative Election Handbook, goes into clear instructions on how to win a race — and it also includes some foolish ways to lose an election. Here are some of those, with my own comments about them:

That should be a no-brainer, but President Clinton is still revered in liberal circles and Newt Gingrich is still favored by the conservative base for this election. You could argue which was worse, a sitting president or a House Speaker who was committing the very act for which he was attacking Clinton. Sadly, we often let politics force us to look past such flaws to keep our favorites in power, but it shouldn’t be that way. Standards should be standards, regardless of the situation.

* Lies. Do not lie, not about anything. You will always be found out. Your credibility will be attacked. You will lose.

Let’s go a step further: Be honest. Not telling a lie often means telling half-truths, which is all politics is these days. Here are the “facts” — at least, the ones I want you to hear. More to the point, we could use candidates who actually believe what they say in public — not people who wear masks to hide their true private selves, as we’ve seen with so many politicians, including the most recent example of a politician who believes people who have an abortion should be publicly hanged. If you believe that, say it, then let’s judge you on your true merits.

Yeah, I know: Honesty, again sadly, is a pipe dream.

* Videotape.Once you become a public figure, everything you say will be on the public record — somewhere. If not on videotape, then audiotape, in print, or in a notebook. Emails, Facebook posts and tweets live forever. So be consistent.

Good advice, and an important note here is that people will forgive honest mistakes. But when you’re caught, own up to them and quit pretending it never should have been recorded. It’s your fault, not the messenger’s.

* Do NOT fight losing battles.Don’t waste a nickel or a minute trying to appeal to a group that will never vote for you.

Which is sad. We have a system where a candidate shouldn’t even try to sway people who don’t agree with them? Whole religions could have been lost had that advice been followed on mission trails.

In the end, if you ask me, what you really need to win any election — conservative, liberal or independent — is common sense, above all, which will solve most difficulties and preclude a need for a laundry list of rules to live by. Now, perhaps honesty and moral decency don’t necessarily fall under the umbrella of common sense, but they should. Can you have the one without the others? I wonder.

What we’ve done over time is twist and morph our political system into something we no longer recognize. Coming up with a guide to fix that would be an even better idea.